USFFan

Back in it's mid-1980s early 1990s heyday, baseball was USF's best sport.  It can be argued that it has been the only sport where USF has been a factor nationally. USF should have built on their success back in the late 1980s and made improvements to Red McEwen Field back then.  If they would have gradually upgraded the program back when our main competition in the state was UF, Florida and UM we wouldn't be in this mess and more importantly would not have allowed all these 'smaller' programs to pass us by.

You know as well as I do that Red McEwen was never a palace even back when Cardieri got the job.  But, I guess I'll play along.  Part of Cardieri's job has to have been to insist that he get the tools that he needed.  If he were such a great coach, somebody somewhere would have come along and offered him more than the $60K he's getting.  He's been here for 20 years partly because nobody else has shown an interest.  

While it's nice to think that the new facility is shared equally by all sports, it's most important tenant is football. It is the reason the facility was built. The weightroom is world class, but if you look at the in state competition they all have very nice baseball specific lookerrooms. When recruits compare facilities these kind of things make a difference.

Well, I walked through the baseball-only locker room - pretty sweet.  Not a football player, helmet or pad in sight...

You know....I couldn't agree with you more. However, firing coaches without a committment to winning just makes us the collegiate version of the Arizona Cardinals or the Culverhouse owned Bucs.

And what does keeping mediocre coaches who never show a commitment to winning make us?  Because Cardieri's drawn a USF paycheck for a quarter century now and I don't think there's enough to show for it.

USFFan

If USF is going to increase expectations...fine with me ...I can live with coaching changes. Afterall I grew up a Yankees fan.

However, if we fire EC and don't improve our facilities, whoever we manage to sucker to take over this program is going to suffer the same fate in a couple of years.  We replace that guy with another coach who probably suffer a similar fate.

Bottom line: if you are going to make change....make sure it's going to make  a difference by giving the new guy a chance to succeed.

It's lines like that last one that keep this argument alive.  Cardieri HAS had a chance to succeed.  Has he fully used the USF Baseball Coach's Club?  Has he been given proper incentive to do better?  Even if that incentive is a job at another school, it's more than the lethargy we currently see.  USF still plays the bulk of our games at home.  There's no excuse for dropping a home game to Army or a home series to Eastern Michigan.  That's a lack of motivation.  And I for one refuse to believe that Eastern Michigan has better baseball facilities than we do.

USFFan

Lee Rose's career ended at USF? If it did it was by his choice.

Lee Rose's 6 yr carrer at USF was 106-69 thats by far the best winning percentage at USF. NO LOSING seasons and THREE post season NIT's with a 2-3 record.

Those are ALL best records at USF

Well, that may well be, but he never was a head coach again at either the college or professional level.  It became clear that he wasn't a recruiter.  I'd have loved to have seen what he could have done with BB and Altron, though...

USFFan

Sorry to continue to needle, but what "career" died at USF - EC has had a 20+ year career at USF.  Name a notable coach that came here with a career and died here...

Well... I could probably make an argument for Lee Rose...

USFFan

I can't think of anyone fired for lack of performance. However, I part of that has been that USF has been realistic and sympathetic to the less than ideal conditions it makes most of it's coaches work under.

Is it really fair to hold someone responsible when they are essentially setup to fail?

IMO, as we start pumping more resources into our programs then I think expectations will and should be heightened.

I guess we could start firing coaches for not winning enough but what do you think that a trigger happy administration and lack of committment to win will do to USF's reputation?

Well, I would hope that Big East membership would go a ways toward removing the handcuffs that everybody seems to think we have.  It's noteworthy that we've been successful in every sport already (women's basketball was the latest to bloom) despite our "poor" facilities.

Second, we can no longer use the facilities as an excuse.  While the playing fields are still poor, the actual training facilities are fine.  

Finally, right now USF's "reputation" is that you can't get fired coming here unless you either harrass your players or drunkenly embarrass the AD.  I'd rather people know that coming here that they need to show some progress on the field/court...

USFFan

You guys just don't get it. Too bad....b/c you'll probably want to fire the next coach who can't field a consistent winner either.

The facilities upgrades in this state started about 5-years ago. There is a direct correlation between our decline from being consistently good to other programs passing us up.

BTW, this has nothing to do with EC, but more about USF fans having unrealistic expecations.

It seems like for some of you this is personal....

CB, answer me one simple question.  When is the last time USF fired somebody for not winning enough games?

USFFan

He is worth any risk for sure!

Boy, I disagree with that completely.  It's time to tell these guys that they missed the boat and stop looking like the jilted girlfriend who takes back the guy who went off and had a relationship with his hot secretary.  Otherwise, most of these guys figure we'll always be there for them if things don't work out.

USFFan

Define a ton of baggage.

2000 pounds worth of suitcases?  My guess is Deion Sanders has a couple of tons of baggage...

USFFan

I also remember that the sign usually had the letters rearranged to read "orgasm".

Way back in 1980, whenever they had both scrambled eggs and ham in the Andros cafeteria, somebody changed the letters to read "bad smegma."  

USFFan

I guess selling things on E-Bay could be construed as a "business opportunity..."

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry that the bid is $5.00

USFFan

I feel the force pulling me back... SLU will go a long way in my opinion to show where our program is headed. We won't be favored in that game...

You do realize that St. Louis is 5-13 on the season so far, lost at the same East Carolina you said we will beat and struggled to get by the same Southern Miss we beat by double digits and has lost home games to SE Missouri State, Austin Peay and Oral Roberts (that last one might not be such a bad loss).  At any rate, they've beaten four division 1 schools all year.  I truly believe we'll be favored in this one.

USFFan

Maybe we'll get some more of Miami's recruits, they are in a pickle with scholarships:

Don't know if this author included the fact that Roscoe Parrish and Frank Gore have declared for the NFL draft, which could give them a couple of extra scholarships...

USFFan

at the HALF, man this looks like the whipping they gave us last year.Must be Pitino's way to welcome new coaches

More likely a statement about having to play one last season in Conference USA.  This is likely the last time Louisville will play Southern Miss in basketball.  

I'm willing to bet they're fired up for Memphis when the time comes, too...

USFFan

USF gets our first win ever over East Carolina.  Let's make it two in a row with a big crowd at home Saturday against UAB.

USFFan

Larry hated Kurt Benson. The fact that Bobby Knight recruited Larry heavily and then stopped talking to him when he got there also caused the change of heart. He was homesick as well, but it wasn't the #1 reason alone for him leaving. He went to IU because his father loved IU more than the world. It was those three things combined that chased Larry. This information is right from the source and his cousin.

Sherrif, I'm not claiming that homesickness was the sole reason, but it was reported to play a role.  I was instead disputing Beastie's rant saying that this was unheard of and that a good coach could have prevented it.  You can fault him for a lot of things, but Bobby Knight is a helluva coach.  

To be honest, I'm surprised Beastie hasn't accused McCullum of being on the grassy knoll.  At least not yet.  

USFFan

You don't hear about kids getting "homesick" at programs with good coaches.  

Larry Bird on line 1 for you...

USFFan

Sheriff, can your buddy at the bar tell us the coordinates we should be asking for at a bar with an old dish?

You usually need an in with the TV station or the athletic department that owns the broadcast (in this case ECU).  Stations rarely announce what coordinates they're going to use for a live feed.  

USFFan

So thre is no shot of getting a game  on direct tv unless its on espn full court or a major station?  

No.  DirecTV only rebroadcasts what is provided by others.  Occasionally if there is sufficient demand they'll rebroadcast a game on pay-per-view, but a midweek USF/ECU game isn't likely to qualify.  

USFFan

I remember someone saying the game is on local tv in greeville. Wouldn't a satellite be able to pick up any station if you knew the coordinates.  How does it work?

If the game is being sent to the local station over a satellite and you knew the coordinates, you could watch it with a traditional satellite dish (not the smaller dishes like DirecTV or DISH Network).  Even if you didn't know the coordinates, you could scroll through the "channels" looking for it and probably find it.  To scan every channel on every satellite would probably take a good half hour.

USFFan

I am kind of glad that USF did not make a bowl game because the fan support for that would be embarrassing. Hopefully, USF keeps winning, but not get the bowl invite until the fans jump on the bandwagon. Can you imagine how bad our fan turnout would be if USF made the GatorBowl next season?? The BIG EAST would surely lose that bowl because USF would not be able to sell enough tickets. I know I am coming down hard on USF right now, but I am sick and tired of our laid back atittude right now. No wonder there are no partys for being invited to the BIG EAST because noone gives a crap about USF. The truth hurts, but it has to be said.

I'm as sick as anybody about the attendance situation, but I think you're way off base on this one.  Let's say that USF had gotten to the Gator Bowl this year as the Big East representative (the bowl you mentioned).  We would have had to have finished somewhere closer to 8-3.  This being USF's first ever bowl game and requiring virtually no travel, I guarantee you USF would have sold out their allotment of bowl tickets and then some.  Throw in that the opponent is Florida State, and it's a dream come true for many USF fans.  As has been said, the fair weather fans will come out of the woodwork.  

Now, with that said, losing is certainly not the only problem.  Our attendance woes have been largely brought on by our own athletic department.  When you sell your soul to the devil to get your game on TV and move the kickoffs to 11 am, you alienate the people who you're counting on to buy those tickets.  When you can't be bothered to market your product, you're just counting on your faithful alumni to show up and attend the game.  There doesn't seem to be a creative thinker anywhere in the whole damned athletic department.  You want students at an 11 am kickoff?  You create the equivalent of Greenbergopolis at RJS on Friday night and have a pancake breakfast before the game.  You offer $1000 to the fraternity/sorority that brings the most fans to the game toward their new house.  You hire local radio stations to broadcast from outside the stadium the morning of the game.  You offer to play the intramural championship game at halftime of the game.  You hit every lecture in every big classroom on Thursday or Friday before the game.  There is no excuse whatsoever for not filling the student section every game.  

USFFan

Before we joined C-USA, all I wanted was a top five finish every year because of the five bowl tie-ins.

Last year we finish a "strong" tied for 3rd and don't go bowling

This year we finish a "weak" tied for 3rd and don't go bowling

Anyone for cosmic bowling?

Um, you do realize that Memphis, Cincinnati, UAB and Southern Miss all tied for second, so we finished tied for sixth (not third), don't you?

USFFan

Regarding the conference situation pertaining to ECU, there is speculative hearsay permeating throughout the World Wide Web that East Carolina University is preparing to join the Big East Conference on an all-sports basis.

As opposed to the non-speculative hearsay?

Specifically, prior to the ECU/NCSU intercollegiate football game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, Mr. Terry Holland (ECU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics) reportedly received a telephone call from Big East Conference Commissioner Michael Tranghese.

Do ECU and NCSU ever play intracollegiate football games?  

While the nature of the aforementioned telephone call was to provide glowing references on Skip Holtz's candidacy for the head coaching vacancy at ECU, the contextual nature of the discussion evolved into a conference expansion-related issue.

According to PirateRadio1250.Com, Talk1070.Com and the Bonesville.Net online news service, the invitation to join the Big East Conference will be extended to East Carolina University within the imminent future. In particular, WNCT Channel Nine's Brian Bailey, Sports Director for Greenville's local CBS News affiliate network, confirmed the reports to which I am referring.

As one might recall, ECU was a possible consideration as a charter institution of the Big East Conference when the conference's constituent institutions opted to select the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University over ECU at the Conference's inception.

No, I don't recall that ECU was a possible consideration (as opposed to just a consideration) as a charter institution of the Big East Conference, as the Big East Conference  existed long before they "opted to select" either Virginia Tech or ECU.  For that matter, the University of Miami was not a "charter member" of the Big East, either.  

Moreover, there is a keen, albeit remote, possibility that the University of Notre Dame will join the Big East Conference on a football-exclusive basis as well.

You are aware, aren't you, that Notre Dame is already a member of the Big East for all other sports.  Are you proposing that Notre Dame's other sports are going to be kicked out of the Big East?  

Step away from the thesaurus, Jeffrey, and try to speak within your actual vocabulary, and you won't look like such a fool.  

USFFan

Listen, to all the little bulls out there.  My source is very dependable.  I tried to be polite and say thanks for the baby sitting.  But you guys honestly think when coach bowden comes asking for Dawsey he want leave in a New York Minute.  YOUR WRONG!!  When have a bad year up here it's still better than a good year for you guys.  Read Between the lines.  HE GONE.  I'll tell you guys thanks when it comes true.  Bye losers.

And, of course, everybody would rather live in Tallahassee than Tampa, right?  After all, the population of Tallahassee is clearly more than, Tam... oh, wait.  

Well, coaching for Bobby Bowden is clearly a great career move.  After all, he's going to be able to then recommend me for a head coaching job after 6 or 7 years on his staff.  Oh, wait, he'll be dead in 6 or 7 years.  

Well, then it's the clear path that Florida State has to the BCS every year in the ACC.  Oh, wait, we screwed up and brought Miami into the conference.  

Geez, maybe it's not such a no-brainer after all.  

USFFan

Computer rankings are going to move very little from here on out - only a loss by any given team would cause them to lose ground in the computers at this point. Utah's best chance at getting screwed comes from the voters themselves. It's hard to see how 1-loss Michigan gains ground on Utah unless BYU really gives them a scare this week. The Big Ten isn't "all that" anymore, and most voters know it...

And yet Utah only leads Texas by 15 and Michigan by 37 in the AP poll and leads Michigan by only 12 in the ESPN/USA Today poll, with several weeks left to go before the final regular season polls are released.  A Texas win over Texas A&M and a Michigan win over Ohio State will impress voters more than a Utah win over BYU (all that's left in the regular season), and don't dismiss the prospects of lobbying to make sure Michigan and Texas pass Utah to knock them out of that #6 spot.

USFFan

I still think there's plenty of time for Utah to drop back to #7 in the BCS rankings.  Their last game is to BYU, which will further hurt their computer rankings, while Michigan will pick up votes and improve in the BCS standings with a win over Ohio State.  I wouldn't put it past voters to drop Utah below Michigan.  I think it's going to end up USC/Oklahoma in the Orange, Auburn/Miami in the Sugar, Cal/Michigan in the Rose and Texas/Boston College in the Fiesta.  

USFFan